Sorry, no one's reading that resume you sent (Computers do weeding out)

[Herman Munster]

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/local/chi-0609270040sep27,0,2339653.story?track=mostemailedlink

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Baffled because you nailed the qualifications for a job and never heard a word? Peeved because you blew an entire weekend polishing your resume? Here's the likely truth: No one ever saw it.

"The first thing that job seekers have to get over is that it's not personal," says Gerry Crispin, a recruiting technology expert. "The chance when you apply for a job that someone actually sees your resume is probably less than 5 percent."

Less than a decade ago, job applicants obsessed over whether to craft their curriculum vitae on white or ivory paper and which font would project authority without pretense. Then there was the question of whether to play fast and loose and let it spill onto a second page.

The idea was to impress someone in a suit at a desk. Now, you must "impress" a computer programmed to eliminate you.

[Nabia2004]

1. It's all about "keywords" now

Hiring managers set up a search request to sniff out keywords, such as those used in the job description, along with other identifying factors. For example, the desired accounting candidate must be a Vanderbilt grad with a grade-point average above 3.5 who now lives in ZIP code 27858.

So although you may be the brightest CPA in your firm and your mom's favorite child, your resume will plummet to the bottom of the virtual pile if you're not a dead-on match -- or close to it. And, in most instances, you'll never know why.

-snip-

Kathryn Troutman has made a career out of coaching applicants through Resumix, a keyword database used by the federal government and other businesses, such as Florida Power and Light, which employs 10,000 in Florida.

"I work with people who've submitted resumes but aren't getting referred to hiring managers," says Troutman, who runs The Resume Place in Baltimore and wrote The Federal Resume Guidebook.

Top skills

"I analyze the target announcement and look for the top five to seven skills: adviser, briefing manager, project manager, PowerPoint developer and so forth. Then I look at the resume. I make a game out of it, actually. If the resume doesn't hit the top skills, the applicant basically missed the point because they didn't read the announcement close enough. I teach people how to integrate the skills into their resume so it will come up in the system."

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